1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for order packing to form a mixed pallet and a mixed multi-pack. In addition, the present invention relates to a system and method for reducing storage requirements and for forming a design in a stack of articles. The present system and method are contemplated for use with beverage containers.
2. Description of the Background Art
Various order packing methods and systems are known in the art. These systems, however, do not provide great flexibility and do not readily accommodate different sized packages on a pallet. Moreover, with conventional method and systems, it is difficult to customize orders.
In current manufacturing systems, such as a bottling plant for beverage containers, the system is operated with the object of filling a warehouse. Orders are packed from the stock within the warehouse and to therefore meet customer orders, a large inventory is needed. Such beverage containers can include bottles, cans or single serve beverage boxes (such as juice boxes). This leads to increased storage requirements and increased costs.
Also, in current systems for manufacturing beverage containers, for example, the units are stored based on stock keeping units. For example, one flavor of beverage would be stored in six packs, twelve packs, twenty-four packs, etc. The base unit of each of these stock keeping units would be a can of soda for example, but the need to store different sized packages of each soda has lead to an increase in demand for storage space.
Accordingly, a need in the art exists for a simple and effective system and method for order packing. This system should change the production process such that orders are assembled just before they are shipped in order to reduce storage requirements and costs. In other words, there is a need for a production process to be order driven rather than driven by the need to maximize the amount of product warehoused. Also, there is a need in the art to simplify the storage requirements such that items can be stored on the bases of a flavor type, for example, rather than as a stock keeping unit. This need goes hand in hand with a need to reduce current inventory requirements.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a system and method for order packing whereby orders can easily be customized.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method and system for order packing which reduces inventory requirements and in particular, can store inventory by certain categories such as flavor and not on the basis of a stock keeping unit.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an automated mixed pallet makeup system and method.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide just-in-time order fulfillment whereby secondary packaging decisions can be postponed until order fulfillment.
It is yet another object of the present invention to reduce out-of-stock occurrences and by enabling orders to be filled during production which ensures that the orders can be met.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide support for marketing initiatives.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide filler utilization in a beverage handling system.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a more efficient method and system for order packing which permits future stock keeping unit growth capacity.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a system and method which has great flexibility in its location such as at a production or distribution center.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a mixed system and method with multi-pack capabilities.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method and system which will result in cost savings by utilizing less people and less equipment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide flexibility in configuring articles into needed packages.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for reducing order picking errors and reducing the overall time required for producing a mixed pallet order.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to reduce cycle time.
These and other objects of the present invention are fulfilled by a system for order packing comprising:
a supply of individual articles;
a packaging subsystem for packaging the individual articles into different sized containers, the different sized containers having a different number of individual articles therein;
a palletizer for palletizing the different sized containers, different sized containers being placeable on a same pallet by the palletizer; and
a conveyor system for transporting the articles from the supply to the palletizer and for transporting the containers from the packaging subsystem to the palletizer.
These and other objects are also fulfilled by a method for order packing comprising the steps of:
supplying individual articles to a conveyor system;
transporting the individual articles on the conveyor system to a packaging subsystem;
packaging the individual articles in the packaging subsystem into containers of different size, different sized containers having a different number of individual articles therein;
transporting the different sized containers from the packaging subsystem to a palletizer; and
placing the containers onto pallets in the palletizer, different sized containers being placeable on a same pallet by the palletizer.
Yet again, these and other objects are fulfilled by a system for order packing comprising:
a pack supply for supplying preformed packs, the packs containing a plurality of articles;
an article supply for supplying individual articles;
a packaging subsystem for packaging individual articles into packs;
a palletizer for palletizing the packs of articles from both the pack supply and from the packaging subsystem, packs from the packaging subsystem and from the pack supply being placeable on a same pallet by the palletizer; and
a conveyor system for transporting the articles from the article supply to the packaging subsystem, for transporting the packs from the packaging subsystem to the palletizer and for transporting the packs from the pack supply to the palletizer.
Moreover, these and other objects are fulfilled by a method for order packing comprising the steps of:
supplying individual articles to a conveyor system;
transporting the individual articles on the conveyor system to a packaging subsystem;
packaging the individual articles in the packaging subsystem into packs, each pack having a plurality of articles;
providing a pack supply separate from the packaging subsystem;
conveying the packs of articles from the pack supply and from the packaging subsystem to a palletizer; and
palletizing the packs of articles on a pallet, packs from the packaging subsystem and from the pack supply being placeable on a same pallet by the palletizer.
Still these and other objects of the present invention are fulfilled by a method for avoiding warehousing of palletized articles comprising the steps of:
feeding the articles to a palletizer;
palletizing articles on a pallet with the palletizer;
loading at least some of the pallets directly on a truck from the palletizer; and
reducing an amount of loaded pallets stored between the steps of palletizing and loading to thereby minimize storage space requirements.
Further, these and other objects of the present invention are fulfilled by a method of reducing an amount of each type of different types of stock keeping units in a warehouse wherein the types of stock keeping units include both multi-stock keeping units and individual beverage containers, the stock keeping units being at least one of six-packs, twelve-packs and twenty-four packs and wherein, the method comprises the steps of:
providing the stock keeping units to a storage facility in the warehouse, a majority of the stock keeping units being individual beverage containers;
feeding stock keeping units from the storage facility to a handling system;
when the individual beverage packages are the stock keeping units feed to the handling system, packaging the individual beverage containers into at least one of six-packs, twelve-packs and twenty-four packs in the handling system to form desired packages;
minimizing an amount of multi-stock keeping units in the storage facility by forming the desired packages during the step of packaging from the individual beverage containers; and
stacking the desired packages and the multi-stock keeping units fed during the step of feeding to thereby form a shipment load.
A system for forming packages of beverage containers having different types of beverage containers in each package fulfills these and other objects of the present invention by providing a conveyor system for feeding a plurality types of beverage containers, a packaging subsystem for packaging different types of beverage containers fed by the conveyor-system into a same package, and means for discharging packages from the packaging subsystem.
Still these and other objects of the present invention are fulfilled by a system for forming packages of beverage containers having different types of beverage containers in each package, the system comprising:
a conveyor system for feeding a plurality of types of the beverage containers;
a packaging subsystem for packaging different types of beverage containers fed by the conveyor system into a same package; and
means for discharging packages from the packaging subsystem.
Yet again, these and other objects-of the present invention are fulfilled by a method for forming packages of beverage containers having different types of beverage containers in each package, the method comprising the steps of:
feeding a plurality of types of the beverage containers to a packaging subsystem;
packaging different types of beverage containers into a same package in the packaging subsystem; and
discharging packages from the packaging subsystem.
Additionally, these and other objects of the present invention are fulfilled by a system for order packing comprising:
a plurality of elevators, each elevator having a plurality of levels;
a conveyor for feeding articles from the elevators, the conveyor having at least one lane for each of the elevators; and
discharge means for feeding articles from the elevators to the respective at least one lane.
Finally, these and other objects of the present invention are fulfilled by a method for order packing comprising the steps of:
providing a plurality of elevators each having a plurality of levels;
holding a plurality of articles on each of the levels of each of the elevators;
feeding articles from the elevators by a conveyor, the conveyor having at least one lane for each of the elevators; and
discharging articles from the elevators to the respective at least one lane.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.